Jamey Johnson

This song became Strait's 51st No. 1 on the Billboard country charts, setting a new record for most No. 1s on that chart.

Jamey Johnson (born July 14, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter.

Johnson was born on July 14, 1975, in Enterprise, Alabama, and raised in Montgomery, Alabama.

From an early age, he was influenced by country acts such as Alabama and Alan Jackson; the latter was the first act he saw in concert.

After graduating from Jefferson Davis High School, Johnson attended Jacksonville State University, the same university from which Alabama lead singer Randy Owen graduated.

During his time at Jacksonville State, he was a member of the Marching Southerners.

Johnson quit college after two years and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve for four years.

While in the Marines, he began playing country music in various bars in the Montgomery area; one of his first gigs was opening for David Allan Coe.

By 2000, Johnson had moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in country music.

One of his first connections was with Greg Perkins, a fiddler who had played for Tanya Tucker, Tammy Wynette, and other artists.

Perkins invited Johnson to sing as a duet partner with Gretchen Wilson on a demo tape.

Songs for which Johnson sang demos include "Songs About Me" (cut by Trace Adkins) and "That's How They Do It in Dixie" (cut by Hank Williams, Jr. with Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Van Zant).

Johnson had also made connections with producer and songwriter Buddy Cannon, who helped him land a songwriting contract.

Signed to BNA Records in 2005, Johnson made his debut with his single "The Dollar", the title track to his 2006 album The Dollar.

Among Johnson's first cuts as a songwriter was "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk", which Adkins released from his 2005 album Songs About Me.

That song he co-wrote along with hit songwriter Dallas Davidson and fellow country singer-songwriter Randy Houser, who later worked with Johnson again co-writing "My Cowboy" for country pop singer Jessie James for her self-titled debut album.

By 2005, Johnson had been signed to a recording contract with BNA Records.

He was dropped from BNA in 2006 and signed to Mercury Nashville Records in March 2008, releasing his second album, the gold-certified That Lonesome Song.

This album produced two singles, the top 10 hit "In Color" and "High Cost of Living".

His first single, entitled "The Dollar", was released that year, followed by his Buddy Cannon-produced debut album (also entitled The Dollar) in March 2006.

"The Dollar" went on to peak at No. 14 onBillboard Hot Country Songs.

The album's second single, "Rebelicious", failed to make the chart and Johnson was dropped from BNA.

After the loss of his record deal, Johnson divorced his wife and took on a reclusive lifestyle, residing in a friend's house while working on his songwriting.

He wrote several songs for other artists.

In 2006, George Strait reached No. 1 on the Country chart with "Give It Away", a song which Johnson co-wrote with Bill Anderson and Cannon.

In 2007, Trace Adkins charted with two more songs that Johnson co-wrote: "Ladies Love Country Boys" and "I Got My Game On", the former being Adkins' first No. 1 in 10 years.

Also in 2007, Joe Nichols reached Top 20 with "Another Side of You", another song co-written by Johnson.

This song was the first single on Nichols's album Real Things, which also contained "She's All Lady", a song that Johnson originally recorded on The Dollar.

Johnson was part of the Fox TV television series Nashville, which was cancelled after two episodes in September 2007.

Johnson released an album in 2008, That Lonesome Song, which was only made available online.

The album drew the attention of Mercury Nashville Records, who signed him to a record deal in 2008.

His first single for the label, "In Color", was released in March 2008.

This song, which Johnson co-wrote with Lee Thomas Miller and James Otto, entered the Top 40 in June 2008, and That Lonesome Song was released on CD in August of that year.

"In Color" peaked at No. 9 on the Country chart in January 2009 and was followed a month later by "High Cost of Living", which managed to crack the Top 40, but only reaching No. 34.

By April 2009, That Lonesome Song was certified Gold by the RIAA.

A fifth single, "My Way to You", was issued in July 2009.

The song was released to radio on July 13, 2009, and debuted at No. 56 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Johnson has since released two more albums, The Guitar Song in 2010 and Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran in 2012.

In 2014, he released a five-song Christmas EP titled The Christmas Song.

In addition to most of his own material, Johnson has co-written singles for Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Trace Adkins, George Strait, James Otto, Joe Nichols, and Jessie James Decker.